One of the hardest things when one is grieving is to find rest in someone who can understand and share with us. Being able to rest and let go, that is key in finding comfort. Our Lord’s words in Matthew 11:28-30 (New Jerusalem Bible) are exactly those. He is offering himself as a source to rest, asking us to go to him and rest in him. In God, we find rest. God can fulfill what no other human being can. He suffered, so He more than anyone can understand how we feel and the burdens we carry. He rested in God the Father, and he is asking us to do as He did, carry our cross like him, and if we do it in Him and with Him then it is light and easy. He is saying that if we don’t keep him away, but instead carry our burdens, our grief with Him then we can do it, and it won’t be as hard.
These words of Matthew are also found in Isaiah 40:3 that in the Lord we shall find rest, we shall be renewed; we will recover our strength to keep on going. That feeling of worn out caused by grief will be released, and we will be able to stand up straight, recovered fully of strength as flying with eagles wings. His promise is not a half way promise, is a full confident promise, and this is what a person who is grieving needs.
The Lord is our savior; He is the one who saves us from our troubles and comfort us. He knows all about us, how we feel, what we need. When we go to the Lord, when we cry to him asking for help he is there, especially in those moments when grief takes over, in moments of desperation. People who grief can find in these words of the Psalm 107:6 all they need; the promise that the Lord will save them from their distress, from their troubles. Normally people in grief cannot see clearly the way out of their situation. Someone who lost a son or someone they loved; or someone with a deadly illness. They don’t see how everything will be fine. But God is all powerful. God can do miracles. God is the one governing the universe. Nothing happens without the Lord allowing it to happen. These words from the Bible are powerful because the person reading knows the power of God. These words provide comfort that the Lord is there, that in him we find strength, relief, rest, we are renewed; we are comforted, and all things will be right. And he can do it.
Ultimately, as Paul says in Romans 8:38-39, there is not stronger bond than the one with the Lord. He is our lover, our creator, and nothing can change that. Nothing. His promise is eternal, and he loves us. Nothing can change that love. If someone is suffering from depression, or the feeling of lack of love, these words are amazing words of comfort. There is no other love as God’s love. No human being can love us like He does, and this love is not conditional to our status, skills, or even our own returning love. God is there and always will be, and his love for us will not change. Nothing can stop God from loving us. Those words are meant to make us know and help us to feel loved; those two things are exactly what a person who is grieving needs. To feel special, that someone cares and that someone is not anyone is God himself, who has the power to make all things good. Feeling loved can be very powerful for those grieving, especially those grieving because they feel that lack of love in their life; because they have never experienced love.
These last words of Paul are very powerful. They personally helped me so many times. There is no worse feeling than that of that we are not good enough, that things are going wrong because we have not been good enough, or that feeling of being rejected by someone we love, best friend or even our own parents who are meant to love us. I have experienced that, and these words comfort me every single time! Because even if the whole world is against me, I know God loves me and that his love will not change no matter what I do. He will always be there; He is waiting for me, to embrace me, he is waiting every day for me to love him back, and He wants me to know, as it is evident from all the passages we have seen, that God wants to let us know how much He cares about us and that His love is all we need. He can comfort us, and he will make our life right; in him we will find love and happiness even if the external things are not going in the way we would like them to go.
I think the words of Paul in Romans 8:38-39 can be particularly useful for those grieving due to drugs, or sins, or similar situations. Those people feeling that they have done too many bad things and they lost the love of people they love. But God does not reject us. No matter what we have done He will always wait for us with open arms.
